“Oh Snap!” I whispered as I looked down at my computer’s clock. It was 4:20pm and I still had a few phone calls and e-mails to send before my 5:50pm flight. I quickly picked up the phone, called our subcontractors for an update, wrote the notes on a pad, and did a quick shut down of my computer. “Thank goodness for cell phones,” I thought as I frantically packed up my office. “Leave the computer, bring the tablet, bring the note pads, and don’t forget a charger…. Okay, we’re set!” It was around this time that I realized I didn’t have a parking reservation at the nearby airport, nor was I familiar enough with this airport to know where the regular parking was. I jumped in my car and headed to my normal parking place in the vain attempt to secure a last minute parking spot for the weekend. No luck. I showed up and they were booked. The city I live in is a commuter-like city. There are a lot of business professionals who fly in on Mondays, and fly out on Friday. Therefore, those poor saps like myself who just want to get away for the weekend, are left to endure the parking nightmare that is the airport. At this time, there is no train to the airport. Please vote for rail transit people, seriously.
The parking company turned me around, and pointed me in the direction of the regular airport parking with the ominous warning, that it’s usually pretty full around this time on Fridays. “Oh, great”, I thought. I drove down the street to see that long term parking 1 was full. Long term parking 2, full. Long term parking 3, full. Daily parking 1, full. Daily parking 2, open! SCORE! I pull into the parking structure with hopes of finding a parking spot upon arrival. Floors 2&3 open! SCORE! I zip up to the second floor to find myself, and 15 of my closest buddies all hunting for an open parking spot. Cars driving back and forth, quick turns around corners as they pace the parking structure. I pop up to floor 3, same deal. Up to the roof, same deal. Finally I decide on the 4th floor. It’s listed as closed, but heck… what’s the worst that can happen? Cars parked alongside the walls, and anything resembling a parking space is full. Then, as if a gift from God… there it was… a parking spot near the elevator. This floor was near empty of people looking for a parking spot. I quickly parked, and as I was walking towards the elevator I saw the lineup of cars coming down from the roof to check out that floor. “Whew”.
After making it through security at the airport, I had just enough time to grab a banana before my flight. I’m constantly amazed that there are few healthy food options at the airport. A good looking banana, apples, or oranges are hard to come by. Thankfully, I can usually count on Starbucks to help with my search. I grabbed a bottle of water and a banana, before walking over to my gate. At this time, I realize they had called all of the boarding “zones”, and they were now calling my name for the flight. I jumped on the plane, and quickly found my seat AND overhead storage. I grabbed my tablet and started reading for work. Of course, as soon as we started to take-off, I realized I had not e-mailed out the last of my assignments for work as I had so dutifully promised myself. When we reached a safe altitude, I wrote up the last of the e-mails and prepared to send them upon landing, and continued my reading for work.
The flight was about as smooth as you would expect. The pilot comes on the overhead speaker and announces that we were flying over Cape Canaveral. I was sitting in the aisle seat, but my neighbors to the left were kind enough to move out of the way so I could see the launch pads. My not so inner geek, was extremely excited. It was like looking at a Space Set for ants. I really couldn’t tell you what I saw, besides possibly some flat concrete spots. When we landed in Miami, we had a long taxi back to the terminal. It felt as if we were driving from my house, it was so long. I managed to send the e-mails I needed to, and turned off my tablet, ready for the weekend.
I met my brother at the baggage carousel for my flight. He was flying in from the west coast and arrived 30 minutes before my flight. It’s always nice to see family. We were staying at the Pullman Miami Airport Hotel, near the airport. My brother had set up this hotel through our family travel agent, and through the cruise line. He’s leaving on a cruise on Sunday, and I just met him in Miami for a chance to get out of town.
We arrived at the hotel, and the front desk clerk checks us in. “Oh, you two are here for a romantic get-away this weekend? Do you want a king size bed?”. “Nooooooo, this is my brother… he has cooties” “OH! Then you’re probably going to want two beds then.” “Yes, yes we do.” After discussing our weekend plans, and questioning him where the best places were to go in Miami, we headed up to the room and called an Uber cab. We were quickly picked up, and taken to South Beach to a place called The Clevelander. My co-worker recommended this establishment, stating excellent drinks and people watching. Upon arriving and walking around, it became clear that he was describing the club like atmosphere and go-go dancers in skin tight clothing in the walkways and podiums. South Beach was a pretty neat place. It’s like a beachy version of Vegas over that half mile long strip. I was pleasantly excited. You walk down the sidewalk through a slew of tables and umbrellas. Establishments trying to lure you into eating on their patio. My brother and I walked up the street a little bit, until we found a Cuban restaurant that looked good. We sat down at a place called Havana 1957 towards the north end of the street. We sat on the patio, got a pitcher of mojitos, some flan, and the Havana 1957 Specialty (roasted chicken in Cuban gravy, white rice, black beans, salad, and sweet plantains). We sat back and listened to the upbeat Cuban music, watched the staff members dancing while waiting for passers-by to greet, and spent time catching up on life. The food arrived, and it was so darn good. The chicken was perfectly marinated, and tender. The flavors of the gravy complimented the dish in a complexity of flavors that tantalized the tongue, the mojito’s were strong but sweet, and the flan was love in dessert form. After enjoying our dinner, and drinks, we decided to walk down the street a little more and see what else South Beach had to offer. We stop off at a hookah restaurant, grabbed another picture of drinks which I don’t recall, and grabbed a hookah. We sat there until 2am, drinking, laughing, and people watching. After the hookah ran out, and the last bit of drinks were gone… it was time for this kid to get to bed. We called an Uber, and rode back to the hotel laughing with our driver. The guy was not from the area, but he did recommend a few places to check out the next day, including jet skiing. We arrived back at the hotel, and crashed on the bed. Night time.
